AROTC - # of collegs on application?

L

Longhaul

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Joined
Jul 11, 2016
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I am a parent of an 1th grade student. He wishes to join ROTC.

We have received different responses for the number of colleges which he should apply.

What is the limit on the ROTC scholarship application? We were told 7, but then told 5.

We want this information in order to plan college visits.
 
For class of 2020;
At least 5, 1 must be in state.
 
So is this for Army? Between 1 and 7. My daughter applied to 4, I do not remember a minimum. The in state, public, etc numbers depend on total number of schools. So for example, if the one school he wants is private and out of state, he will need to choose also at least one school in his state of residence and at least one of those two has to be public, or he would need to choose a 3rd school that is public.

My suggestion is to open the application and look at the school selection page. He can then select his major and start seeing the schools that are available and that is how our daughter selected her schools to visit her junior year. He doesn't need to fill out the whole application, in fact he should not, but anyone can open and start an application. Then when it opens for his year he just starts a new one.
 
Just curious, can you apply to more than one branch for ROTC? Could you apply for an NROTC scholarship and an AROTC scholarship at the same time or do you have to pick one?
 
You can apply to all 5 service academies, and to the ROTC of the army, air force, and navy(including marine option). Many students apply to several academies and ROTC branches.
 
DaGrubs said:
Just curious, can you apply to more than one branch for ROTC? Could you apply for an NROTC scholarship and an AROTC scholarship at the same time or do you have to pick one?
Click to expand...

+1 Ice.

Just like you can apply to multiple Service Academies, you can apply to multiple ROTC programs.

However to clarify, you cannot apply to BOTH NROTC and NROTC Marine Option.
 
Dckc88 said:
My suggestion is to open the application and look at the school selection page. He can then select his major and start seeing the schools that are available and that is how our daughter selected her schools to visit her junior year. He doesn't need to fill out the whole application, in fact he should not, but anyone can open and start an application. Then when it opens for his year he just starts a new one.
Click to expand...

If OP is 11th grade he/she can't open the application for his year group yet without entering inaccurate information. Recommend he not open an application for the current year group. That just adds one more scholarship that needs to be processed.

Here is what the instructions are in the applications for this year. Nothing says they won't change for next years application:

School of Intent
  • When requested below, select the name of the college or university offering ROTC you wish to attend. Please specify a minimum of one school choice, but a maximum of seven.
  • If you are applying for a scholarship in the Nursing or Engineering fields, ALL selected school choices must be Accredited Nursing or Engineering Program schools.
  • If you are applying to a Historically Black College or University and you have indicated above that you desire to compete for a scholarship to attend a Historically Black College or University and are awarded an ROTC Scholarship, then you MUST attend a HBCU. When choosing schools below you must have the very 1st priority pick as an HBCU.
  • Only schools with active ROTC Scholarship programs will appear in the list below.
  • To add a school choice, select the school choice drop down box, State and School Name and the press the UPDATE LIST button.
  • When selecting school choices, the application process requires that at least one of your choices is a college in your home state of residence.
  • To Delete a school choice, click the red X next to the school choice that you wish to remove.
  • After pressing the UPDATE LIST button, your selection will appear in the list below.
  • School choices are listed in priority based on the preferences of where you wish to attend.
  • To change the priority order of the selections that you have made, remove the items, then select them in the order you wish them to be in.
  • When selecting school choices, the application process requires that 3 of your 7 choices are public colleges or universities. If you select fewer than 6 schools, then 2 of the 5 choices must be public colleges or universities. 3 or fewer choices, 1 must be a public college or university.
  • Continue with this process for the school choices and prioritize as you desire. After reviewing your list, press the Save button.
You don't need to enter 7, and I wouldn't limit myself to 7 on your initial list of schools. Use 7 as a rough guide, but I recommend you look at as many schools as you can/want to to find the right fit.

With regard to applying to multiple academies/ROTC programs...Although there is nothing saying you can't do it, in my mind if I know that an applicant is applying to all the programs and they can't explain to me why they don't care whether they will serve as in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard then I'm assuming they are more interested in getting free school than they are in carefully considering what it means to serve as an officer in a particular branch.
 
Thank you @clarsksonarmy! That really helps.

I don't want him to look at too many schools because I think it will only confuse him. Currently, there are 15 on his list with 7 being public schools and 3 are in state. I'm thinking we plan to look physically visit at least 8 on official tours. So many of the Open Houses are on the same dates in November. Assuming he keeps focuses on his GPA, all but his #1 choice are match/likely schools.

I love all the help on this forum.
 
AROTC-dad said:
+1 Ice.

Just like you can apply to multiple Service Academies, you can apply to multiple ROTC programs.

However to clarify, you cannot apply to BOTH NROTC and NROTC Marine Option.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply. I apologize if this has already been asked, but do you need a congressional nomination for an ROTC Scholarship?
 
clarksonarmy said:
If OP is 11th grade he/she can't open the application for his year group yet without entering inaccurate information. Recommend he not open an application for the current year group. That just adds one more scholarship that needs to be processed.

Here is what the instructions are in the applications for this year. Nothing says they won't change for next years application:

School of Intent
  • When requested below, select the name of the college or university offering ROTC you wish to attend. Please specify a minimum of one school choice, but a maximum of seven.
  • If you are applying for a scholarship in the Nursing or Engineering fields, ALL selected school choices must be Accredited Nursing or Engineering Program schools.
  • If you are applying to a Historically Black College or University and you have indicated above that you desire to compete for a scholarship to attend a Historically Black College or University and are awarded an ROTC Scholarship, then you MUST attend a HBCU. When choosing schools below you must have the very 1st priority pick as an HBCU.
  • Only schools with active ROTC Scholarship programs will appear in the list below.
  • To add a school choice, select the school choice drop down box, State and School Name and the press the UPDATE LIST button.
  • When selecting school choices, the application process requires that at least one of your choices is a college in your home state of residence.
  • To Delete a school choice, click the red X next to the school choice that you wish to remove.
  • After pressing the UPDATE LIST button, your selection will appear in the list below.
  • School choices are listed in priority based on the preferences of where you wish to attend.
  • To change the priority order of the selections that you have made, remove the items, then select them in the order you wish them to be in.
  • When selecting school choices, the application process requires that 3 of your 7 choices are public colleges or universities. If you select fewer than 6 schools, then 2 of the 5 choices must be public colleges or universities. 3 or fewer choices, 1 must be a public college or university.
  • Continue with this process for the school choices and prioritize as you desire. After reviewing your list, press the Save button.
You don't need to enter 7, and I wouldn't limit myself to 7 on your initial list of schools. Use 7 as a rough guide, but I recommend you look at as many schools as you can/want to to find the right fit.

With regard to applying to multiple academies/ROTC programs...Although there is nothing saying you can't do it, in my mind if I know that an applicant is applying to all the programs and they can't explain to me why they don't care whether they will serve as in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard then I'm assuming they are more interested in getting free school than they are in carefully considering what it means to serve as an officer in a particular branch.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the information. My son doesn't want to apply to all of the ROTC programs. He has one branch that is his top choice, and a 2nd that he would also like to apply to. If he doesn't get either, he will try and go the college programmer route (so it's not about free college for him, but about becoming an officer in either the Marine Corp or Army).
 
DaGrubs said:
Thank you for your reply. I apologize if this has already been asked, but do you need a congressional nomination for an ROTC Scholarship?
Click to expand...
No, in fact for Army ROTC there are not even recommendation letters. The board reviews the applicants file, including activities, transcripts, test scores, interview, fitness test and survey results.
 
Dckc88 said:
No, in fact for Army ROTC there are not even recommendation letters. The board reviews the applicants file, including activities, transcripts, test scores, interview, fitness test and survey results.
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Thank you, as always, for your help :) I will tell you, I like the recommendation letters as part of the process :)
 
DaGrubs said:
My son doesn't want to apply to all of the ROTC programs. He has one branch that is his top choice, and a 2nd that he would also like to apply to. If he doesn't get either, he will try and go the college programmer route (so it's not about free college for him, but about becoming an officer in either the Marine Corp or Army).
Click to expand...

My DS started out seeking USNA and NROTC/MO as he wanted to be a Marine infantry officer. He was so USMC focused that he did not even apply for an AROTC scholarship.

Ultimately he was declined from USNA, accepted at The Citadel, but declined for the NROTC/MO scholarship. This made The Citadel financially stressful, so he chose to attend a local state school and joined AROTC as a non-contract walk-on. About a month into his freshman year, he was approached by a Marine OSO about doing PLC concurrently while enrolled in Army ROTC. DS thought this would be both distracting and disloyal and declined. Within 3 months he earned an Army 3 year scholarship and is now one of the top ranked cadets in his battalion.

Army was never even on his radar, and now he is thriving there.
 
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Funny, that's like my DS. Originally Marines all the way, no thought of any other branch but I am trying to help him see that if he truly wants to serve his country he needs to look at more than one branch. He is planning on applying for USNA and NROTC, but I am concerned about a potential DoDERMB DQ that the academy doesn't do waivers for, but I know a couple others with the same situation that received waivers from AROTC. I would hate to have him apply and be denied by the academy and lose his NROTC chance at the same time. I have a phone consultation tomorrow with DoDMERB Consultants to discuss this further - but he may have to change his plans/approach. Change builds character, right? :)
 
DaGrubs said:
Thank you, as always, for your help :) I will tell you, I like the recommendation letters as part of the process :)
Click to expand...

It is possible there might be recommendation letters for NROTC, but my daughter only applied Army. She was applying for a nursing scholarship so put all her eggs in one basket. We are very happy it worked out for her, but agree with your advice to your son to keep doors open. We have a family friend who is a retired Army Colonel and served 30 years in logistics. My daughter had the opportunity to interview her for a school project she was working on and the only thing she says she would of done differently was to look at all the services before choosing one, and she advised my daughter to do the same (she had already received her Army scholarship at that time, and so that advice was also not taken). She told my daughter she might of still chosen the Army, but at the time, she saw the ROTC flier on campus, and joined. And that was that! In the end she really enjoyed her service and has no regrets, she just thinks that at the start of the journey that all paths should be considered. I thought those were wise words! Good luck with the DODMERB process for your son, always stressful.
 
Longhaul said:
So many of the Open Houses are on the same dates in November. Assuming he keeps focuses on his GPA, all but his #1 choice are match/likely schools.
Click to expand...

During your college visits, you can contact the ROTC units ahead of time and visit with them. It is invaluable for your child to actually visit and see what ROTC (Army or Navy-Marine Option -commonly referred to as Navy-MO) is like, your child can meet with a current student and find out what someone their own age thinks. As we (parents) cannot fully understand. My DD toured both AFROTC and NROTC, it was very educational - seeing the difference in the programs in person. Good Luck.
 
Army ROTC has a more simplified application process(except the interview). However, I did like how the Maine Corps was a little more "hands on" with recruiters to guide you through the process, albeit a significantly more rigorous one.
 
DaGrubs said:
Just curious, can you apply to more than one branch for ROTC? Could you apply for an NROTC scholarship and an AROTC scholarship at the same time or do you have to pick one?
Click to expand...
Pick all and service academies if you like!! A boy our dau graduated with got AROTC, USMA and USNA!
 
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